Placebo, The Effect Of A Fake Drug and Power of Suggestion

The placebo effect is one of the proofs of how much our brain and our thoughts are mighty weapons, and how much of it is at the same time very unexplored terrain.

Did it ever happen that just a minute after using some painkiller, the pain completely stops? You evidently didn’t think that the drug could have such an almost immediate effect. What happened was precisely the placebo effect, because your pain relieved yourself, with your own consciousness that you had pain medication. Placebo effect only proves the value and power of suggestion. And there are answers to the question of why in recent years we have heard “think positively” or “emit positive energy” from all sides. It is evident that the mind has enormous power and that the human possibilities are infinite.

What’s Placebo?

It is a substance that does not have any pharmacological properties but is prescribed as any medicine. If the patient responds positively to this “treatment,” a placebo effect has occurred. The patient is convinced that the drug will heal and consequently there is an improvement in his health.

The existence of a placebo effect has been confirmed many times, but what happens when a patient knows that the pill he is taking is not a cure? After numerous studies in the testing of pathological conditions and diseases, it can be said that the placebo effect is indisputable, and the existence of this phenomenon is reaffirmed. Therefore, it might be questioned why doctors do not use placebo therapy because it is a substance that has no effect, and thus no side effects. However, for treatment, it is necessary for the patient to be informed and following the treatment procedure.

In experiments with it is investigated the power of psyche and suggestions and at the same time the strength of the pharmaceutical effect of the drug or any other substance.

The incredible conclusion is that only 30% of the drug’s action depends on the pharmacological moment, and 70% is a placebo-psychological response. Therefore, the point is more in the belief that a cure will help us than in the specific emesis that it causes or changes in the body already existing. Again, the power of the human psyche and the suggestion that works on it comes out.

Will knowledge about the fact that the drug does not really prevent its effects?

The results of a recent study by Ted Kaptchuk, a professor of social medicine at Harvard, may be revolutionary. The placebo effect is observed when the health status of an individual shows signs of improvement after the application of a false intervention presented as an authentic treatment. Placebo shows how the mind is capable of triggering biochemical changes in the body by believing in the power of a drug that is inactive. Scanning of the brain has established one way of functioning placebo: while the structures of the central brain in charge of the pain receive and send signals, placebo increases the release of hormones that act as analgesics. In doing so, there is a decreased activity of the amygdala, which is involved in the formation of feelings of fear, while the parts of the middle brain whose function is the release of dopamine and the regulation of emotions show an increased response. Finally, brain regions that connect the physical sensation and experience of pain show a decreased activity under the influence of placebo.

It is therefore not surprising that placebo is often used in the treatment of psychophysiological disorders and conditions that are primarily related to stress and neuro-vegetative anxiety.

Examples of the placebo effect

Parkinson’s disease- relaxation causes the secretion of dopamine in the brain, which positively affects the condition of the patient

Depression – although we often resort to antidepressants and drugs that we are sure will have an effect, it has been proven that the most significant impact on human brains have the fact that we have taken a drug that will help us, which does not depend on the medication itself, but our subconscious

Pain- placebo’s ability to reduce pain is referred to as placebo analgesia because it initiates the release of natural painkillers called endorphins

The need for caffeine- non-caffeine coffee have the same effect as well as the right coffee, which is influenced by the power of autosuggestion